An Open Letter From Pirate Party Brazil About Their Progress

An open letter from the Pirate Party Brazil, explaining their progress. Translation by Josef Ohlsson Collentine

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OPEN LETTER NUMBER 1, 2013

PIRATES,

Our journey began in 2007 when a small group of people, inspired by the Pirate Party of Sweden, decided to join together to create the Pirate Party of Brazil. Since then it took six years and many events passed for us to reach for us to reach the foundation of Pirate Party Brazil in Recife, the Capital of Pernambucana, on July 28, 2012. From that time we launched a national campaign to raise funds to register our documents in the Official Gazette (DOU). The Pirate Party does not accept donations from corporations or legal entities. Because of we this have received donations during the last twelve months from 418 donors (individuals and citizens) from all over Brazil. They made donations that together exceeded the figure of twenty thousand Reals, the minimum amount needed to make a publication in the Official Gazette. With the publication and the work to get there many Brazilians became aware of our existence, identified with the causes we advocated and became PIRATAS.

Currently thousands are organized into collectives/Clubs in municipalities across the country, gathered around not one but several causes related to human rights, the environment, the privacy of information, sharing information for free, promoting access to knowledge/culture, freedom of expression, minority rights to equal treatment, the defense of the secular state, the transparency of public management and construction of full democracy for the political empowerment of the people. All these values ​​and principles are in our bylaws and other documents of the Party, built collaboratively on the internet during months of open discussion with Brazilian civil society and approved at the General Meeting of the Party’s Foundation.

Also in recent months our participation in political action, both online and in person (on the streets), multiplied. There were marches, peaceful occupations, forums, debates, interviews and protests, twitter campaigns, publications, reports and more online campaigns, which involved the direct participation of Pirates – and these activities are still going on- all over Brazil.

Now it’s time to move further in our journey, because in the coming days we will register our bylaws, after which we will begin collecting supporter signatures for our Registration with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. Therefore, we need to act, with coordination, to reach the amount of 500 000 supporter signatures needed for the creation of the Pirate Party of Brazil, under the symbol: PIRATES.

Our fight is the fight of all us Brazilians wanting a nation and a world free of injustice and oppression. Above all, our cause is motivated by the construction of a fair balance between equality, justice and freedom. We want that every person, regardless of origin, color, religion (creed or not), gender, sex or social class, can live with dignity and security .

Therefore, it is with great pleasure that, on behalf of the Pirate Party of Brazil, we thank each person who has devoted a portion of your time and a portion of your savings to work with the construction of this Party.

I take this opportunity to urge all Pirates and supporters to engage in our campaign to gather the supporter signatures, which will begin in the coming days.

Not too far away from each pier, harbor or beach, in each horizon, you can observe, flaming and haughty, the flag of the Jolly Roger collective with hope of change and transformation. Our voices, hearts and minds long ago joined the cry of the people in the squares and streets, walking in front, holding hands, heads held high and chest open, without hatred and without fear, because it is the people we are born with, the same people who will fight and build a better world.

I'm a dual citizen (American/Swede) and try to integrate my reflections from a more global perspective if possible. I'm the organizational leader for Pirate Times and work actively to strengthen the pirate movement through this work as well as being the international contact for Piratpartiet (PPSE). Elected board member of PPSE for 2015-2018.
If you would like to ask me something I speak English, Swedish and Spanish. Find me on the links below